Let me start out by saying Mike and I found out recently we are going to be grandparents! I’m going to be a grandma. EEK. Am I that old already???

Between school sessions and a family vacation out west to marry off our #2 son, I’m very late following up my last post, but time has allowed me to really put my new Apple Watch to the test as well as the whole yoga thing. Here are my findings:

1. I LOVE my Apple Watch! Truly. How did I ever live without it??

While the Fitbit was great there were a few things that I did not find helpful. First of all, I am very competitive. I mean, VERY. This meant that while having Fitbit friends helped motivate me to step it up when I didn’t really feel like moving, it also stressed me out every time I fell behind. Stress makes my neck hurt more which results in having vertigo.

So when I had long travel days, which I tend to have a lot of, or taught all-day seminars, which I also tend to do, I would fall down the Fitbit friend chart and get all stressed out that I wasn’t at least in the top 3 (really I wanted to be #1). You’d think that this would motivate me toward more steps. It did….And that worked well on days I had a schedule more accommodating to getting my steps in. But on days when I might, let’s say, travel by plane to another state or country and then have to teach a seminar, I found myself walking on a treadmill or around a strange city in the middle of the night just so I could stay in the top 3 (again, really wanting to be #1). Once I worked a few hours, then flew to New Orleans, traveled to the hotel, set up a trade show booth, and then walked 10.5 miles around the city – just to stay in the top slot on my Fitbit list. I was exhausted the next day when I had to teach several seminars and man a booth by myself. That night…..I hit the treadmill, walked 6 flights of steps twice and took another long walk outdoors. And still it wasn’t good enough to remain in the #1 slot. So depressing.

Fitbit competition was doing me more harm than good. So I let go of my Fitbit, as great as it was, and traded it in for an Apple Watch. Now I can compete with my own personal achievement goals all entered into my watch, PLUS buy a latte at Starbucks and scan my boarding pass all from my wrist. I can allow myself downtime on the days I know I need downtime. Sometimes downtime is the best thing. I already struggle with being in “ON” mode ALL THE TIME. So a gadget that stresses me out when I finally manage to not be in “ON” mode isn’t good for me.

2. Yoga. I don’t like it. It bores the crap out of me. I know many people love yoga and it helps them tremendously. That’s awesome for them. I’m more of a “listen to an audio book while using a stepper while playing Freecell and trying to beat my own best time” all at once kind of girl. So far my best time is 1:55 while listening to an audiobook.

So what do you prefer – competition with friends via Fitbit (or similar) or working toward your own personal goals without the friend competition? What motivates you and why? I’m curious about this.